Metamorphosis
by Crime.After.Dark
Summary: Kuga Natsuki barely recognised her old friend, Fujino Shizuru after 6 years of separation. Fate brought them together once again, Natsuki found herself in a crazy adventure in a seemingly boring investment bank as she struggled to balance her own mission and her relationship with the crimson eyed beauty. AU
1. Chapter 1

My first fan fiction, please be kind will you? I'm not good with words, I make tremendous grammatical errors, it was never my intention to ever, ever upload anything here. But here I am, contradicting myself. Blame it on my love for Shiznat.

AU. I'll try to make the characters as similar to the original Mai Hime as possible. I've made an after Carnival story so I'd prefer to write an AU for now.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuga Natsuki or Fujino Shizuru or Mai Hime.

**Metamorphosis**

Her slender body was roughly pushed to the wall, a pair of hungry lips brushed against hers. She found herself trapped. She saw guilt flashes in those breathtaking crimson eyes. She slowly closed her eyes, succumb to this guilty sensation, this forbidden love.

_'Who am I kidding'_, she mused. _'Our relationship could be anything, anything but love'._

She could no longer love, especially her. But those thoughts couldn't stop her from kissing back just as passionate, just as hungry. The crimson eyed beauty nibbled her lower mouth, their tongues fought for dominance. Hot breath tickled her skin, she moaned as the kiss deepened.

'_How could this happen?'_ she asked herself. '_No, I don't want this'_. After a long internal fight, she hesitantly shoved the intruder away. She saw a flickered of discontent, and…relief? But in a blink of an eye, those emotions were quickly masked away, as if they'd never existed.

The tawny tresses smiled nonchalantly and told her what she already knew, "This doesn't mean anything, Natsuki."

"It's Kuga-san for you, Fujino, and don't you dare touching me like this again!" she growled.

Uncharacteristically storming out of Shizuru's office, she felt a pang of anger and disappointment. She did not care that her indifferent image was shattering. She just wanted to get as far away from the poisonous snake as possible. Why the hell did it happen again? It started with a rumour that Fujino Shizuru was offer a job in Windbloom Private Equity and a promotion as an Associate in Hime at the same time. Don't get it wrong, Hime was a prestigious investment bank that offered ridiculous salary payments. But a 14 hours-a-day work load and the payment that was not quite as high as Private Equity's made it much less attractive. Naturally, it puzzled Natsuki that Shizuru had chosen to stay as an Associate in Hime. That question left her mouth before she could even stop it as she was handing over her work to Shizuru.

"My, are you displeased that I'm now your boss, Kuga-san?"

And then she just had to flash the irritating smile that never quite reached her eyes. Natsuki found her face heated up as she spurted colourful languages at her new boss. Overtime, the blunette had mastered the art of self-composure, but these days, she'd lost control rather quick. _'Blame it on Shizuru!'_ Their argument went on for a while until Shizuru decided to shove her tongue inside Natsuki's mouth to shut her up.

'_What was I thinking? Why did I kiss her back?_' She couldn't ignore the pain in her chest. She knew she was hurt again. Was it her pride and ego? Or was it her heart? 'Ridiculous' she thought. Her heart did not beat faster for Shizuru, it did not flutter when she was around, it...it did not ache every time she looked at her. Shizuru was a fake. The brunette was always smiling and looking at her with those infuriating amused eyes, as if she was beneath her. '_Idiot, I am better than this.'_

_"_Natsuki-san!" yelled the spiky green hair man as he ran towards her.

Takeda, the used-to-be annoying boy who had followed her around like a leech in college, was now one of her friend. It was funny, she thought, for them to be friend. During college, she'd never have a conversation with him for longer than two minutes, and his stuttering took two third of the time. Takeda was now one of her team members. His competency in the job allowed her to see him as an equal, and it was the start of their friendship. He was still crushing on her, she noticed, but he had matured and learned that she would never harbour the same feelings for him. _'It was not creepy at all that he decided to apply to this bank, working at this team.'_

"There's a party to celebrate Fujino-san promotion tonight, are you coming?"

In that instant, she wanted to blurt out _'Hell no!'_, but she gently rejected the invitation, lied about some works needed to be done. She surely did not want to celebrate Fujino Shizuru's promotion, no, she couldn't bear being in the same room with her. Shizuru was someone she should despite, and someone she _should not kiss_. Besides, there was an important matter that required her attention, much more important than flocking around Shizuru and kissing her ass. Though, she'd got to admit, there were many, many idiots who were willingly kissing Shizuru ass, literately, of course. Takeda blushed a little at her smile, he nodded and hesitantly walk away. Everything was too easy, she could always get what she wanted, who she wanted. _Almost always_.

Kuga Natsuki was a gorgeous girl. Gorgeous was an understatement when Natsuki decided to put on some light make up. She rarely did so, or needed to. Her silky waist-length midnight blue hair urged to be touched. She wasn't a fan of hair tie; her hair was left natural as it should be. Her porcelain skin and enchanted emerald eyes gave her the gentle look. That's it when she did not glare at people.

_ 'Gentle?'_ – She snorted from the thought. Gentle was only a mask, if she wasn't an Analyst, she could be a good actress_. 'An award winning one'_ – she mused_. 'But what's the different between a corporate chess piece and an actress anyway?'_

In fact, she was reckless and aggressive and she was quick to anger. Back in high school, they called her the 'ice princess' for her cold and distant demeanour. But as a grown adult, they viewed her as a friendly and gentle woman; she faked it very well indeed. And she hated, she hated that it was Shizuru who taught her all these things. Her life had always been complicated, but Shizuru made it unbearably more so.

They were polar opposite. Water and oil do not mix. Shizuru was like water, deceitfully gentle in the surface. But nobody knew for the fact that the water currents underneath were too damn complicated to comprehend. In one of her engineer class she decided to model the flow of water as one of her project but it was quickly dismissed as the idea, as cool as it sounded, was impossible to carry on. Why did Natsuki, a chemical engineer graduate, decided to pursue a career with Hime investment bank? She had her reasons, the reasons she wished not to share. Fortunately, investment banks loved engineer graduates, for their strong Maths background. And Natsuki was not only athletic; she was also an intelligent young woman. She graduated with flying colours that landed her this job.

_'Wait, does it mean that I'm like oil? Sticky, slimy…yuck, I should have come up with a better analogy!' _

Well, if there were any similarities between them, it should be the amount of fans they both had for the fact that Shizuru was just as beautiful. Was it her roman nose, her soft honey brown hair? Was it her perfectly symmetrical face, her two-thousand dollar Alexander McQueen dress, or charming fake smiles that attractted men and women attention? _'It was those damnable eyes'._

Natsuki was once a lone wolf, she was cold and unapproachable. Her kindness was only discovered by a few in Fuuka high school. There were Mai, her current best friend, Nao, her…well, she didn't know the exact word to describe their relationship. _'Sister, rival, friend, enemy? God damn Nao pick your freaking side'_. And Shizuru. The brunette was the first to befriend her, the first to peel off every single layer of defence Natsuki had built. Shizuru, unlike Mai and Nao, had never learned her secret, but Shizuru was once her most important person. _Ex-bestfriend. _Some fans even paired them up, calling them Shiznat?! or Natshiz or whatever they liked. The truth was, they were not together, not _that_ way, as Shizuru and Natsuki were both straight. _'Then why did we kiss again? Damn it Shizuru!'_

To survive in this aggressive throat cutting corporate business, Natsuki had to change. She had to create a better image to move up the ladder. In an industry where connection was the key, Kuga Death Glare should not _ever _be used. Investment banking was all about money, big fishes swallowing small fishes, earning your fortunes by stepping on each other's grave. Everything was a zero sum game. There were always one winner and one loser, always. Those nonsense 'everybody wins' promises were only beautiful lies that tricked naïve players.

Money was a motivation. No one could deny the ultimate power those green papers possessed. We were aware of the control that money had over our lives, but our lives were so entangled in this vicious circle, there was no escape. We were all enemies, fighting for survival, fighting for food, fighting for our needs and wants. Of course being a rich girl, starvation was never a problem for her. So what was she fighting for? Another Jimmy Choo shoes? A shiny Ferrari? Though she preferred a Ducati Desmosedici D16RR NCR M16, but again, who would ride a motorbike in her skirt? Natsuki never really cared about those superficial luxuries. Those were not the reasons she had given up her dream to work as a scientist for this boring, very very boring office job. Revenge was her motivation. Funny though, revenge had brought her to where she currently was, Hime Investment Bank, working under Fujino Shizuru. Revenge reunited them after 6 years apart.

Natsuki fixed her collar and flattened out her black skirt. Her black blazer and white shirt were wrinkled due to a certain rather violent action performed by Shizuru. _'Great, another reason I should hate her.'_ Her clothes were perfectly ironed this morning, it was another thing Natsuki had to change. She never cared to wear a tidy uniform back in high school. Now, appearance mattered, she noted. Have you ever seen a sloppy looking investment banker? She was so sure that her stocking was ripped by the red eyed snake. Unfortunately it didn't, so she had no proof of sexual harassment. She wanted to get back at Shizuru, but even Kami was on the snake's side. As she sat on her desk, with only Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V actions left to do, her mind drifted to the brunette once again.

_'We were friends once, what had happened to us?'_


	2. Chapter 2

****Hi guys, thanks for the reviews. I hope this chapter won't disappoint.

Disclaimer: Mai Hime and it's lovely characters are not mine.

**Metamorphosis**

Natsuki remembered it well, when she was 17, she faced another heart break. She remembered her _ex-best friend_'s sudden decision to study in Ivy League instead of Fuuka University. Shizuru's reasoning for her choice was not at all convincing.

"Investment banks usually only hire applicants from Ivy League. Besides, getting an offer from these universities is a dream come true, Natsuki."

"Shizuru, even Hime, the largest Japanese investment bank, requires only top Japanese University graduates. Unless you wanted to join highly prestigious foreign banks such as Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan, Ivy League education was not necessary."

"Ara, could Natsuki please tell me why she has such knowledge? Could she be interested in working in investment banking?" Natsuki, unable to tell Shizuru the reason she obtained those information, felt herself at lost for words. For best friends, they sure kept a lot of secrets from each other. But Natsuki had to, Shizuru was too important to lose.

"It didn't matter Shizuru. I don't get it, you've never shown any interest in banking, then why?"

Natsuki was a highly observant individual, despite looking like she didn't give a damn about the world, she did care. To outsiders, the conversations between her and their lovely Kaichou were usually awkward as it seemed like Shizuru-sama was conversing with a nodding statue. Little that these nosy little stalkers and Shizuru herself knew that Natsuki paid attention to every single thing the brunette said. Natsuki was often mesmerised by the Kaichou's soothing Kyoto-ben.

"I guess working as a student council president changes people, my Natsuki."

Nope, it was not convincing. Natsuki remembered the brunette's rants about how amazing Van Gogh was, how his art style captured her heart. She remembered her sparkling crimson eyes when the girl talked about Art, her extreme focus whenever she painted. If there was anything that could completely capture Shizuru's soul, it would be Art. The brunette was lazy alright, but she could spend days painting without any rest.

The younger girl was able to see through the illogical reasons Shizuru gave her. Shizuru never lied, not really. She'd never said that she liked investment banking nor it was her own decision to go to the State. Natsuki could only assume that her parents may have forced her into this.

"Stay for me Shizuru…I need you." she didn't believe that she had resolve to begging. Natsuki could not handle abandonment. She had just discovered a dark secret of her family, a secret that left her feeling lost and completely empty. She needed Shizuru, she needed the kind and calm presence of the brunette that always managed to ease her heart. Although she had never told the girl anything about her complicated past, the brunette's company was more than enough. She knew it was selfish to ask her friend to stay, but Shizuru had always supplied Natsuki unlimited amount of favours. She was once again taking advantage of the older girl's kindness, unsuccessfully, she might add.

"I'm sorry, Natsuki. As much as it is difficult for me to leave Fuuka…to leave you, I have to. But I promise Natsuki that I will email her every day. I'll come back every holiday, and it will feel like I'm never gone." The brunette said in her melancholy Kyoto-ben. For some reasons, the promise didn't feel genuine to Natsuki, but her sadness was true, at least that was what Natsuki believed.

_It was the first time Shizuru had ever lied to her._

_And it was the first time her best friend had ever broken her promises._

The tawny tresses' abrupt departure hit her hard. The Kyoto born girl disappeared from her life without a trace. No one, not even Shizuru's other best friend Reito Kanzaki, knew her number and the university she attended. Natsuki, in her desperation, asked the then Kaichou, Kikukawa-san, to search for Shizuru parents' phone numbers from the school's database in hope that they would disclose her contact details. It was more like _threatening_ than _asking_, since Natsuki wasn't friend with the timid Kaichou. All efforts were in vain as Shizuru parents' lips were tighter than shrunken leather pants. Well, at least Natsuki had learned where Shizuru's skill in avoiding uncomfortable questions came from. Can't beat the masters of the master. She could ask Yamada to look for her, but she decided to give up trying.

In Shizuru's absence, Natsuki had realized that the brunette was more than a best friend to her. Nao was a friend, Mai was her best friend. But her relationship with Shizuru was a lot different than Mai's. There was more _uncomfortable_ teasing involved when she was with Shizuru. Scratched that, Natsuki secretly enjoyed the mischievous girl's teases, but she would never ever admit it, afraid of much much more embarrassing teases. When Shizuru was still around, Mai was only an acquaintance to her. But with Mai's ever forceful invasion to a depressed Natsuki's personal bubble, she started to warm up to the fiery orange haired. As Natsuki trusted the girl enough to consider them as best friend, she started to note the dynamic differences in her friendships.

'_What was Shizuru to me?'_

The fact that Shizuru cut their ties as if Natsuki was never once her friend left the midnight blue tresses felt utterly hollow and betrayed.

_Fate brought them together, once again. This time, fate wasn't so kind._

Shizuru was two grades a head of her even though she was only a year older. It wasn't because the brunette skipped grade, Natsuki had to stay behind a year after a car accident. Natsuki might have anticipated the girl to work for Hime, but it wasn't the reason she accepted Hime's job offer. Their first meeting after six years apart however, shocked her to the core.

Shizuru was introduced as one of her team member, a two-year Analyst. Realisation hit her hard: Shizuru was back in Japan for two years without even bothered to contact the younger woman. What really surprised her were the brunette's eyes that void of affection when they met her emeralds. Her fear came true in the most brutal way: Shizuru had looked at her as if she was just another stranger.

"Well, nice to meet you Kuga-san, it's a pleasure that you decide to join our team." said Fujino Shizuru with a plastered business-like smile. If it wasn't for a slight hint of surprise in the older girl's eyes, Natsuki would have assumed that Shizuru'd lost her memories.

'_She knew who I am, and yet…'_

Natsuki merely nodded, she masked her anger well because Shizuru clearly didn't notice it.

'_Kuga-san. So that's all I am to you now huh?' S_he thought bitterly.

Shizuru wasn't her boss then, but she surely liked to give the younger woman hell. The brunette was exceptional as always, so she was assigned to supervise new team members. Natsuki barely recognised the kind friend she once had, as Shizuru always tried to undermine and criticize the ice princess' works. At first, Natsuki tried to reconnect with her old friend, but with the intense animosity from the said girl, she decided that they stayed better as enemy.

If it wasn't for Mai and Nao, she didn't think she could ever trust anybody again after Shizuru had left. She had trusted the brunette with all her heart, only to be left utterly shattered, over and over again. She'd had enough. If Shizuru decided to treat her like a bitch, then so could Natsuki. Although with her limited powers within the team, the ice princess could only do so much as using vulgar languages at the two-year Analyst. Unfortunately for Natsuki, Shizuru had the upper hand in this game.

It had becoming a usual habit for Shizuru to change her mind about a certain valuation methodology an hour before the presentations with clients. It was even more often for her to order a particular Analyst to redo her works, from scratch. And guess who that poor soul was? Natsuki, of course. Normal people would have given up and quit the job or worse, they would have been fired. But Natsuki wasn't normal. She was stubborn, arrogant and more importantly, she was so damn good at her job for a rookie. Sometimes, all Shizuru could complain was the wrong font, margin, or commas used in the presentation slides. Even if Shizuru, in her PMS, decided to order Natsuki to make last minute changes, it would not frazzle the said girl. Natsuki had great reflex and apparently, efficient problem solving skills.

Now, Shizuru was her boss and she would likely to create much, much more trouble for Natsuki. The emerald eyed woman thought of changing to a different team, but that only work when she had proven her worth to the bank. She'd only worked in Hime for three months which was too short for the Vice President to take her request seriously. Besides, Shizuru was promoted to the Associate role at the age of 25, which was almost impossible. Shizuru was obviously the bank's golden child, so who in the right mind would want to transfer out of her team? So what was the possible lie she could come up now?

Shizuru was perfect for her job, which included checking Analysts works, performing technically difficult valuations, and most importantly, dealing with clients. Her natural charisma could easily manipulate people. Sometimes, all she needed to do was flashing those perfectly white teeth to her bosses and clients. The brunette could be bipolar sometimes, but this was the secret only Natsuki knew, something she did not wish to share.

'_There, my desperate attempt to feel like I'm still special to her.'_

Then why the hell did she got slammed against the wall, kissed so eagerly by the brunette? Natsuki had concluded long ago that Shizuru did not harbour any romantic feelings towards her, was it normal to shut people up by kissing them? They were supposed to hate each other, were they not?

'_Is it an American custom Shizuru's got used to?'_

'_Or was it just another mind game she likes to play?'_

Her anger flooded back at the latter thought. She wanted, no, needed a punching bag. _'Where is Takeda when you need him? No wait! He's a friend now, a friend now.'_

Natsuki needed this job but Shizuru was giving her a hard time. She must come up with a plan to get out of this problem, fast. Her stream of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist.

"Natsuki, honey?"

"Huh?" She looked behind her shoulder, emerald met worried hazel eyes.

"You seem worried."

After having dinner with Saito, she sat on her desk finishing up her presentation slides. It was unusual for her to be home this early, but her supervisor was quite lenient today, due to a certain crimson eyed woman's celebration. She realised that even though she was spending time with her boyfriend, all her thoughts were occupied by the older girl.

"I'm alright. I just have a rough day at work." She gave Saito a reassuring warm smile.

All the doubts quickly disappear from his concerned eyes. Saito kissed her tenderly as he gently pulled her into the warm embrace.

The hazel eyed architect seemed to love her. They met during a college party when Natsuki was in her final year, he was her second boyfriend, and her first being a random childish _filler_ relationship she had after Shizuru's departure. He had managed to creep into her harden heart. Although she was still an enigma to him, he was able to uncover a piece of her. He understood that Natsuki, despite her aloof behaviours, was a kind girl who only afraid to get hurt. He was good to her, too good.

'_Sometimes I wonder if I deserve his love.' _

Saito Kotaro was a dreamer, an idealist, was someone Shizuru used to be, someone Natsuki had lost. She could vaguely remember the eighteen year olds girl who dreamed to be a painter.

The crimson eyed beauty was an enigma. Natsuki was a little proud that she understood her much more than anyone else, and that she could see through the well create mask Shizuru wore. But just when she thought she got the brunette, she was wrong. Now, the twenty five years old Shizuru was no different than a complete stranger to Natsuki.

'_Was any of it real, Shizuru? Was our friendship so superficial that it could be this easily broken?'_

'_Damn it, I'm thinking of her once again.'_

A sudden pang of guilt flushed in her heart. She still remembered the taste of Shizuru's sweet lips, the lavender aroma of her hair, the intense crimson eyes that seemed to see only her. She had momently forgotten about Saito as she was losing to the guilty temptation. She found Saito lips on her. The sensation was different from Shizuru's as there was neither electricity nor fireworks. Pushing those thoughts aside, she found herself gently kissing him back.

"I love you, my darling Natsuki." He said in between their kisses.

"I love you too." She lied.

Natsuki pulled away from Saito's embrace as he drifted to sleep. She changed into her red and blue form fitting biker suit. She walked out of her apartment complex with only one thing on her mind: revenge.


	3. Chapter 3

_To recondite123: Shizuru graduated and left Japan in mid-2007, it was just before the Global Financial Crisis. No one knows when it really started, but there's speculation that it was around late 2007 -2008. I take that you're interested in the matter; we might have a few things in common._

_To Anon: actually, Natsuki didn't seek revenge against Shizuru. Are you DsaAnon by any chance?_

_Thanks to noah114, katfemale, ariasun, oz, Romanica, ikustan, chum-sa and others who've reviewed._

I intended to include in-chapter explanation for the financial terms, but it might be too boring to read, so I'm leaving it here for those who are interested.

Short selling: reverse of the usual buy then sell, the investor will first borrow the assets of interest, sell them with high price then buy back at lower price and return the assets to the lender, with an interest.

Private placement: sales of securities to a relatively small selected group of investors to raise capital (cash). The process is much more flexible and quicker than Seasoned Equity Offering (SEO) – public – sell to the mass, you may say. You often hear about SEO or IPO in the news: the funny Facebook's IPO was a big topic if you remembered.

Private placement is usually organised by intermediary - investment bank.

* * *

**Metamorphosis**

"It's Natsuki."

"What is it?"

"Natsuki, neither Kuga-san nor the girl-with-weird-blue-hair." Natsuki growled.

"Kuga it is." The girl with short red hair said in between her laughter.

"Yuuki Nao, just Nao."

And that was when Natsuki first met Nao, the irritating fourteen-year-old annoyed her to no end.

* * *

Nao was two years younger than her, which made the girl now a final year college student. She was surprised that Nao even got in Fuuka University. Don't get her wrong, goody good Mai was surprised too. They always bantered, like cats and dogs. But apparently, Mai thought that their interactions were greatly enjoyable, she called them _cute _angry siblings-who-love-each-other-very-much. _'Yeah right'_ – Natsuki mused, they were frienemy, partners in crime, red and blue, red and blue.

'_Though having Nao as a younger sister isn't too bad.'_ She chuckled at the thought.

Nao was a black widow, trapping her preys in her webs of deceits. She had a love/hate relationship with men as they were substitutes for the lack of prominent male figures in her childhood. She was a _use_ _'em then leave 'em_ kind of girl. Despite that the slender and slightly shorter girl liked to make inappropriate overly sexual jokes, Natsuki suspected that Nao was still a virgin, since the girl often blushed when the jokes were directed to her. Nao was very much similar to her. They liked to break the rules, and they were both afraid of intimate relationships.

Ironically, Nao was majoring in Criminology, and apparently, she exceled in it.

'_Criminals make good defendants of justice, don't they?'_

Nao's underground connections made her a much more valuable source than Yamada. Natsuki would enlist his help if he was still around. But now, he was enjoying an 'early retirement' in Hawaii after receiving a generous payment from a wealthy client.

"You're late!" The red head said in a slurred tone. _'Has she got drunk already?'_

"Rough day at work. Long island iced tea, Kato." Natsuki ordered her drink as she sat beside Nao in the shady looking bar Nao chose to meet up. _'Nao and her weird taste.'_

"More like rough night with boy toy." Nao snorted. She wasn't that drunk and Natsuki wondered why it disappointed her.

"You're jealous." Natsuki teased instead of the usual swearing. Truth was the investment banker had slipped a sleeping pill to her boyfriend so she could sneak out in the middle of the night to see Nao, and to carry out her plan. They didn't have that _sort_ of relationship, not yet anyway, but she couldn't care enough to clarify.

"And you're teasing me, with Fujino's tone. Damn it why don't you just request to switch to another team? The snake's got you so whipped."

It wasn't Natsuki's intention to tease the agitated girl, the words came out as a reflex. Natsuki herself had once again built up a defense mechanism against the infuriating brunette's teases over the past three months. Her improved ability to retort Nao's dirty comments left the red head uncomfortable. Instead of answering Nao's question, she continued:

"You look pissed, what have happened? Has Yuuki-san been dumped?" This time, the Fujino's voice was done purposely.

Nao frowned, "Way to persuade your source, Kuga."

'_Shit, I may have crossed the line.'_

The younger woman chuckled as Natsuki's lop side grin faltered. Decided to stop tormenting her friend, Nao begun to tell the 24-year-old what she wanted to know:

"As you suspect, Hime is definitely fishy. They have conducted illegal insider trading in the past. The court had persecuted several employees, but Hime paid the media a fortune to keep them quiet. I managed to obtain the name and contact details of the accused employees _in that year_ after checking the Hime's private employee lists you gave me last week."

Nao lowered her voice, green eyes darted around the bar before she continued, "Though, I doubt that these employees are really responsible for the crime. They were at the middle of the hierarchy, I suspect that someone from the top management had ordered them to commit the trades."

"Have you talked to the employees?"

"Nope."

"Um, well, have you trie-"

"Nope, can't. Their lips were sealed."

"As in…"

"As in they're enjoying tea with Hades." Nao replied sarcasticly, "The reasons for their deaths were reported as 'Inmates riot', you and I both know someone had them murdered". She sight exasperatedly as she chucked another shot in her mouth.

"I didn't know you read Greek Mythology." Natsuki smiled. The employees list she stole from Hime didn't help, so what? There was always another way. Stubborn, she thought of herself, maybe a little naïve. Revenge was all she had left, she could not give up.

'_There must be another lead to find out the bastard behind this, I will infiltrate Hime again later.'_

"Thank you, Nao" she continued. Seeing the bluenette's sincere appreciation, Nao's face softened, "You're paying, _investment banker_. Five more B-52 shots, Kato!"

"I didn't know you drink, and drink this much, Nao!"

"It was my Comparative Criminology professor's fault, you know. That self-proclaimed seventeen-year-old red head drinks like a fish. She's got me addicted to B-52." One shot.

"You go drinking with your professor?"

"Caaan't help it, she likes my essay. _Interesting perspective, _she said so she invited me out to talk more about my view." Another shot.

"Is that all?"

"That IS aaall." And another shot.

'_There is definitely more to it. Nao is a wreck!'_ Natsuki grimaced, she didn't want to pry, though she was very curious about what had happened to her friend. It might have something to do with the drink-like-a-fish professor.

"Come on finish up, I'm taking you home!"

"Eeeever my hero." Nao snickered, as she gulped another drink.

"Heroine, and up, up now Nao!" Natsuki was a little over protective of Nao. After learning about the red head's abusive father and her sickly mother, she felt for the younger girl. A part of her wanted to save her, just like what Shizuru did to her a long time ago.

_Shizuru._

After dropping a drunken Nao at her apartment, Natsuki drove towards Hime. It was 1 a.m that she reached the bank's head quarter. The bankers usually finished their works at 2 a.m, but thanks to Shizuru's promotion, they had left the building early. After disabling the cameras, Natsuki entered Seizo Fujita's office using her altered access card. Natsuki was very capable of hacking, the skill which she'd learned from her university's underground hacker group. All she needed to do was camouflaging her cards with a certain algorithm that tricked the card reader into accepting her unauthorised card.

Entering one of the suspected Director's offices, Natsuki swiftly made an image of his hard drive. _'The dirt lies in the hard drive, always.'_ She thought. The duplication process took quite some time to carry on so Natsuki was fully alert of her surroundings. One hand grasped her tranquiliser, readied to fire in any moment and the others hovered above her gun. Once she finished with the task, she erased the card reader's memory. The victim would not aware that his information was stolen, or more accurately, copied.

_Mission Accomplice. _

Lately, Natsuki had been distracted from her mission, and she knew damn well the reason for it. No, it was not because of the brunette's constant presence in her mind, not at all. Wait, yes, it was! The thought of Shizuru always angered Natsuki, so much that she had strayed away from her revenge. Only anger, nothing else.

'_Now, let's deal with Shizuru.'_

* * *

They always said that getting in an investment bank was a victory. The job was so glory that it paid more than the medical profession. Natsuki wasn't bitching about investment banking, she simply made an observation. Contrary to the common beliefs, investment bankers worked hard for their earnings. They worked from 9.00 a.m. to 3 a.m. in the morning in busy periods. Pulling an all-nighters was something as common as buying a morning coffee. Investment banking was in fact, a man's world.

There were lazy idiots who sat at home, watched TV and complaining how investment banks ruined the economy. They ignored the fact that without these banks, there was no way Japanese notable brands could raise money to invest in valuable project, to expand, and to develop new 'cool' products. Sure, some U.S investment banks were one of the causes of the damnable recession. There was a subprime mortgage crisis in 2007, the year of Shizuru's graduation. While the U.S economy was in trouble, Goldman Sach controversially earned enormous profit from the crisis by short selling. Then again, let's go back to the root of the problem: if people weren't too greedy and overly confident, if they didn't blindly belief that house prices would go up forever, global financial crisis would never happen. So, was investment bank inheritably evil? Yes and no.

_'It is never the nature of a profession, it's the nature of the practitioners.'_

Natsuki was rational. She preferred chemical engineering of course, but she respected every professions. Just because investment bankers earned much more money than the average Joe, they weren't necessary evil. Though she'd got to admit, there were many traits that never ceased to irritate her. Investment bankers walked the same, talked the same, dress the same, god, they even wore the same brand of perfume._ 'Geez, talk about bromance, manufactured monkey!'_ They had that same confidence and larger than life look as they interact with 'commoners'.

The bottom line was, investment banking was glorious. Then why, why did this happen to Natsuki?

"Here you go, _Genmaicha, _just like usual." Unhappy Natsuki handed Shizuru the first cup of brown rice tea of the day. It was 9.00 a.m. She was still tired from last night's mission. And now, she had to deal with her infuriating boss.

"With one sugar?"

"Yes."

"Palm sugar?"

"Yes, and yes there's a hint of honey, enough for you to taste it but not enough to overpower the distinct sweetness of the palm sugar. No I did not add milk and yes it was two bags of tea per cup." The ice princess deadpanned. "Is that all?" she scowled.

Had Natsuki ever mentioned that getting daily teas and picking up her boss' dry cleanings was part of her job? It was not written in the job description however, but it was a common knowledge for new comers like her to do such things. Apart from that, she had to do the dirty works too. She had to perform several offered price valuations that slowly killed her brain cells.

What did Shizuru have to do? The lazy Associate liked to play solitaire in her laptop. She found it greatly enjoyable to criticise the works of a particular, poor poor Analyst despite its brilliance. Occasionally, she had meeting with clients which involving a certain tawny haired drinking tea who smiled charmingly to get whatever she wanted.

"There's one more thing, my printer is broken. Fortunately, I heard that Kuga-san graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering, I would appreciate if you could fix it. I need to print out some important documents."

"I was majoring in Chemical Engineering." She emphasised. She wanted her warm and comfy bed and her fluffy pillows, not this, not again. Besides, the brunette could just use the Analysts' printer outside her office if she wasn't this lazy. It'd never stopped to amaze her that the very, very lazy red-eyed devil managed to keep in shape, _very_ _fit_, indeed.

"I am very aware of that. But I'm afraid I cannot see Kuga-san's point." The brunette nonchalantly sipped her drink. Nonetheless, Natsuki could still spot a hint of contentment. She liked the drink, of course.

"Ah, uh, Chemical Engineering, as in dealing with chemical and stuff. I was not majoring in Mechanical Engineering so you'd better call a professional to fix your damn printer." Natsuki found her face heated up a little as the older woman licked her delicious rosy lips, savouring the tea.

'_Delicious? I mean, um, distasteful! God I need sleep!'_

"So what Kuga-san was saying is that she does not have the capability to fix my printer, wasn't it?"

"…"

"Then I'll ask Takeda-san, may be he'd-"

"Fine, I'll do it!" And Natsuki regretted it immediately.

"Ara, you don't have to, but that'd be lovely. Arigatou, Kuga-san." Shizuru smirked and shifted her attention to her laptop's screen.

Natsuki mumbled R-18 languages as she realised what the red eyed devil had done. The queen of manipulation had her again. The younger woman could predict that if she didn't agree to fix the printer, the brunette would have called Takeda and asked him to be Natsuki's knight in shining armour. And that, that would be very embarrassing, she wouldn't give Takeda the satisfaction that he'd helped her.

The poor Analyst bent down and opened the lower compartment of the printer. She though roughly checked every single part, making sure they were working properly. With her back facing Shizuru's desk, Natsuki asked the brunette without turning around:

"It's a simple paper jams problem really, can you try printing again?"

"…"

Getting no reply from the Associate, Natsuki curiously looked over her shoulder. Her breath hitched as inquisitive emerald eyes met piercing crimson gaze. Time stopped, the Analyst stood still, breathless as if she was afraid to break the tranquillity of the moment. The lingering sweet aroma of the brown rice tea mixing with Shizuru's scent, _lavender,_ had never been more intense. Natsuki's beautiful boss had shifted her attention away from the laptop for quite some time, presumably checking the bluenette's behind.

'_Or maybe she was just making sure I didn't destroy her printer.'_

As Shizuru had woken from her trance, she swiftly looked back at her screen. Her face returned to the usual serene expression. However, there were several things Natsuki had noticed when their eyes met. Shizuru looked heartbroken, crimson eyes bored overwhelming unreadable emotions. The sight was suffocating to the younger woman. Her heart beat a little faster and it was starting to ache, yet she didn't know why. But that moment, affections once again beamed in those mysterious penetrating eyes. For a second, the emerald eyed woman was able to see the old Shizuru, the Shizuru that she had…loved. _Platonic love_, of course. And it was Shizuru who spoke first, clearing the consuming silence.

"I will call for a professional help, Kuga-san can leave." Shizuru calmingly said, obviously missing Natsuki's previous question.

"There's no need, I've just fixed it, I think. Can you try printing again?" Natsuki replied in a soft voice, it had been awhile since she had talked to the brunette without malice.

"It worked, thank you, Natsuki." The Associate smiled at Natsuki's tenderness as she collected the perfectly printed papers. The smile however, went unnoticed. Realising her wrong choice of words, Shizuru smile faltered but she quickly regained her composure.

"Kuga-san can leave now, thank you for your help."

'_Natsuki.'_

No one had ever called her name like Shizuru had. Her hypnotic voice filled with warmth that never ceased to touch Natsuki's soul. Siren, hauntingly beautiful and undeniably dangerous. Natsuki nodded as she stepped out of the Associate's office. She felt happy, a little, that somehow she had managed to find her old friend today. However, for the rest of the week, Shizuru went back to her usual self. She still pestered Natsuki about little things that she had and had not done. Their relationship was back to square one, disappointed, Natsuki decided that enough was enough.

'_Enemy. Yes, that's all we are to each other.'_

* * *

In the Monday of the following week, Shizuru called an 8.15 a.m emergency team meeting. The meeting was serious, Natsuki deducted, seeing the presence of the Hime's Vice Presidents and several serious-looking strangers. Artai Corp, one of Hime's largest clients was very unhappy with the team's offered price. The corporation had asked Hime to organise a private placement to raise quick money for their new investment projects. The initial offered price, valued by Shizuru's team, was determined as too low, thus leaving money on the table.

On Monday, after the Artai Corp's private placement, their stock price immediately increased by an unbelievable amount of 50%. You might think that an increase in stock price equalled to good news_. Au contraire_, Artai had initially issue (sell) their stocks with much lower price than today's price. They could have raised a lot more capitals if Hime had value their stocks higher. Witnessing such dramatic price changes, the Artai key directors, _those serious-looking strangers_, immediately drove straight to Hime's Tokyo headquarter, demanded an explanation.

Now, Hime, or specifically, Shizuru's team was facing a very, very angry client. Artai Corp threatened to seek service from another investment bank. Losing a major client in the current time wasn't favourable. No, it was a disaster.

The problem adversely affected the Vice Presidents as they deal directly with Artai Corp's financial advisors. It was Shizuru team's responsibility to enlighten Hime's Vice Presidents and the disgruntled clients where their valuations came from, and why they offered such ridiculously low price.

'_The stake is on you, Shizuru.'_


	4. Chapter 4

Once again thank you guys so much for the reviews. I love the insights and the theories, please keep throwing your theories at me I'd love to hear them.

* * *

**Metamorphosis**

Natsuki means summer.

She never understood why Shizuru loved summer so much. Maybe it was the only season that the young soon-to-be Kaichou could laze around at the beach with her fan girls bickering for the privilege to apply sunscreens on their idol's flawless skin. Maybe it was the only time when Shizuru could take her to bikini shopping, or more accurately, forcing-Natsuki-to-model-different-types-of-bikini s-outing. Or maybe her mischievous friend loved to ride her bicycle under the sun to feel the warm light simmering on her skin.

Then again, Natsuki hated summer.

She didn't hate the sounds of happy chirping birds, the pleasant scents of freshly mowed green grass and of after rain, the dancing greenness under the azure sky, the tropical fruity fragrances of the sunscreens and the scorching sun. Natsuki dreaded summer to come, but it was more to a particular rainy day four years before, and less to the physical nature of the season.

Today was a miserable day for her, and for the first time in four years, she didn't want to spend it alone.

"Is it safe, Natsuki?" Shizuru asked incredulously, eyeing the suspiciously looking midnight blue coloured Ducatti.

"Of course, I'm riding after all."

"But…" the brunette hesitated, it was quite cute actually, for Shizuru-sama to be scared of a little bike.

The younger girl chuckled, "Hold on tight and you'll be fine."

"As Natsuki's wishes…" Shizuru sighted as she put on Natsuki's spared helmet.

The tease managed to wipe off her younger friend's victorious smirk as she wrapped her arms around Natsuki's waist, ever so slowly and teasingly. The clueless summer child blushed at the contact but she ignored the bizarre feelings in her stomach. Shizuru giggled at the sight of the biker's reddened ears as she started drumming on the poor girl's abdomen.

To say that their ride was eventful was an understatement, Natsuki found great joys hearing Shizuru's gasps every time she sped up or hastily braked. She could feel her heart thumped louder and her stomach fluttered at Shizuru's tightening hold. The invasion of personal space was never more welcomed. Together they rode under the crimson sky, none of them wanted this moment to end, since the warmness of each other's broken souls made them whole.

As they arrived to the cliff, tranquillity engulfed the previous laughter. They stood there, side by side, and no one dared to break the silence. None of them really paid attention to the beautiful sunset, for their minds were far away.

Natsuki flicked her hair as she gazed at the dancing sparkles on the surface of the deep blue ocean, she began to relive the _accident _that took away her most important person. The thunder cracked open the obsidian black sky followed by the roaring sound of nature. She could still hear the ever haunting song _Yesterday_ playing on the radio of her mother's car. Droplets of rain splattered against her window, _rain_, the little emerald eyed girl could feel her gut churning. She hated rains. Natsuki remembered a flash of blinding white lights followed by a dizzying loud crash that sent her into oblivion.

_Blue…blue of the ocean_

_And red…red of…_

Natsuki could still hear the heartbreaking scream of a wounded child. The once carefree young girl clutched her little stuffed dog she named Duran tightly, as though he too would be taken away from her. Her screams subsided into sobbed whispers, her eyes were blurry from salty tears. Miyagi Saeko could no longer move, her mother could no longer smile to her. He mother was…

_Dead._

That day, that time, that place, there was just another poor soul passing away, fragile like a candle in the wind. But that day had taken away the will to relish life of the very much alive innocent soul.

Shizuru, sensing the younger girl's sorrow, held the distraught girl's hand. At the chestnut haired's light caresses, Natsuki broke out of her reverie and looked up at the kind worried face.

The crimson eyed girl pulled her shattered friend into a tight embrace "It's alright Natsuki, I'm here for you."

"Arigatou, Shizuru." Touched by Shizuru's action, Natsuki rested her chin on her friend shoulder; she had never felt more secured. Drops of tears fell from her eyes, for the first time in four year, she cried.

The fact that Kuga Natsuki had lost her mother in a rainy summer night was not a secret to some. But no one knew that Natsuki was the daughter of the one Miyagi Saeko, a world-renowned biotechnologist. Natsuki mother's exceptional break in the field ended their parent's crumbling relationship. It was one of the reason Natsuki pitied her pathetic father, for his insecurities. Then again, typical Asian men, especially those with strong traditional upbringings, could not stand being the submissive one in marital relationships. Saeko reverted back to her maiden name as well as taking custody of Natsuki after her divorce. Natsuki's surname was changed once again to her biological father's after her mother's death.

Natsuki's father moved to the U.S, leaving the fourteen-year-old teenager alone in Japan. He half-heartedly asked her to come but she refused, to his relief. Her father was weak. He couldn't deal with the death of an ex-wife he still loved and the disturbed teenager at the same time, so he chose to escape. He gave her hefty allowances, god he tried, he tried to compensate his incompetency of being a father with money, but little did he know his fragile girl needed more than that. After the traumatic accident, she rarely showed any emotions to her father or to anyone, but she still craved for his love. His abandonment hurt her as much as the moment she had witnessed life fading out of her mother's eyes.

Once again Natsuki was left alone.

Since then, she had resolved to avoid close contacts with anyone. She couldn't trust her family, so there was no way she could trust another stranger.

She would rather be alone.

_Lone wolf_, they called that, didn't they? Did Shizuru also think so? Was she just a broken stray dog the perfect girl pitied? Was that why Shizuru befriended her?

"What's wrong, Natsuki?" Shizuru could feel the uneasiness of the girl in her arms, she tentatively voiced her concerns.

"Am I…do you also see me as a lone wolf?" Natsuki pulled away from Shizuru's embrace, missing the closeness immediately.

Confused at the girl's random question but Shizuru replied nevertheless, "Natsuki is my cute puppy, wolf is rather scary,…"

'_Now I prefer to be a wolf.' _She blushed.

The brunette tapped her chin as she continued, "But if you asked me what you reminded me of, I would say, a chrysalis."

'_Ok now I rather be her puppy.'_ Realising her lack of resistant to being claimed by Shizuru, Natsuki pouted '_Chrysalis it is.'_

Seeing the girl's adorable shades of red, Shizuru smiled brightly as she explained,

"For a start, chrysalisis a wonderful creature. Their adult form is beautiful, but people overlooked them for their not so attractive appearance. Kids scream at caterpillars but chase after butterflies, do they not? I am not saying Natsuki is ugly on the outside, on the contrary, she is very stunning. Her femininity attracts men and women alike, but they never dare to come close to her."

"Then how am I a chrysalis?" Natsuki's blushes deepened at her friend's blunt compliments.

"Because, my dear Natsuki, people are afraid of her. They call her _lone wolf_ and only admire her from a far. Ara, what a _dangerous creature_ she is! People are afraid of my bad puppy's bites."

Seeing Natsuki's cute sulking face, Shizuru paused and smile apologetically at her friend, she realised it wasn't the time to tease the girl.

"But they didn't know that Natsuki is also very beautiful, on the inside. But she is hiding under her cute scowls and her infamous glare, daring people to approach her because she is afraid of exposing her vulnerability. Like an almost fully grown butterfly protected under a chrysalis' hard skin, doesn't Natsuki think so?"

"Thanks for the psychology talk and the biology lesson, Fujino-sensei."Natsuki deadpanned. She didn't want to sound so harsh, but as much as she liked her friend, she found it uncomfortable to be analysed such way. The ice princess liked it that there was someone who could understand her deeper than face values, yet, she suddenly felt so naked standing before Shizuru.

'_Do I trust Shizuru?'_

Seeing Shizuru's smile faltered, Natsuki, feeling immensely guilty, was about to apology for her insensitive words.

"Does Natsuki know what the main similarity between her and a Chrysalisis_?_"

Shaking her head, the girl questioned was glad that her friend didn't seem to mind her rude outburst.

"That one day, a chrysalis will become a butterfly. When a caterpillar is fully grown into its adult form, it will be comfortable enough to get out of its shell and to explore the beauty of the world. One day, her beautiful mind will not only be seen by myself, but by others. The day when Natsuki is comfortable enough to remove her walls is the day she becomes a truly stunning and confident creature."

'_Yes, I do, with all my heart.'_

"I'm not done growing, am I?" Natsuki smiled sincerely. Little did she know the image of her beautiful smile under the pinkish orange sky had crept into Shizuru's heart, refused to let go.

"But she will."

Natsuki faked a pout "And you are always so sure of yourself, Shizuru the butterfly."

Hearing the comment, the brunette turned to look at the sunset, her melancholy eyes were faraway, almost out of reach. Natsuki wondered if she had said something wrong, but before she could ask, Shizuru gave her an amused smile, "Ara, does Natsuki think that I am beautiful, inside out?"

'_Everybody has secrets, right, Shizuru?'_

Shizuru, who had expected a blush that never came, once again turned to look at the sky. Watching the sun's slow descendent to the horizon, they could see the gorgeous light diming and the stars were starting to be visible. For the first time in years, Natsuki was able feel the summer heat, warming her frozen heart.

'_Every cloud has silver linings.'_

Tilting her head a little, Natsuki saw her friend watching the beautiful scenery with unreadable emotions in her crimson eyes. Her tawny hair was tinted with orange glow, flowing freely in the summer breeze. The older girl turned her head to Natsuki, her penetrating crimson eyes had never been more vibrant, and more striking. For a moment, all Natsuki could see were those red orbs staring straight into her bare soul. She saw the brunette's lips moving, but it took her more than three seconds to register that Shizuru was speaking to her.

Breaking out of her trance, she could remember that Shizuru had whispered something in...English, probably.

"What did you say, Shizuru?"

The older girl calmly answered, in her soothing English voice:

"_Metamorphosis, _my Natsuki."

* * *

The meeting room had never been a relaxed place, but this growing tension was beyond anything Natsuki had experienced before. She could see the Vice Presidents disapproving looks and the clients' grimaces. The emerald eyed sat next to Takeda, who nervously flipped through the Excel sheets, scrutinised every single calculations. It was undeniably peculiar as they had never undervalued by such large margins. The offered price was usually lower than the current market price to attract investors. This time, it was way too low. Similar to Takeda, the other team members also re-examined their calculations. With their eyes darting back and forth, up and down, Natsuki pondered if they would actually pop out of their frustrated heads.

This had never happened before. They had never make mistakes.

Not when there was a Shizuru in their team.

Shizuru was the reason why her team was assigned to help Artai Corp's private placement. Shizuru was a perfectionist. Her attentions to details and her skill of logical deductions never ceased to amaze other investment bankers. Artai Corp was a very important client, but now, Hime was in the verge of losing the loyal customer.

Natsuki discreetly glanced to her left, where Shizuru was sitting. She noticed the lack of _Genmaicha. _Well yes, their lovely Associate always brought her own tea to every meeting, _almost always_. In front of the brunette was a cup of typical green tea offered by the secretary, which was untouched. The serenity in her face had managed to calm down her team members. However, Natsuki suspected that the brunette was just as confused. She could see through Shizuru's façade, _sometimes_, and she was sure that the older woman was far from indifferent. Unlike the other Analysts however, the brunette did not look at her excel sheet.

'_Confident.'_

'_Of course, there is absolutely no mistake. Shizuru is the Associate, after all.'_

Deciding to stop tormenting everyone, Natsuki carried out the second act of her plan. She turned on her black iPhone, which was a no no in meetings, especially this meetings. Idly scrolling up and down her screen, glancing again at Shizuru, she could see the crimson eyes widened, and then came realisation.

'_Oh god, she knows!'_

"Ahem! Excuse me, um-"

Luckily, it was Yamato Akiyama, one of Hime's Senior Vice President, who had spoken first.

"It's Kuga Natsuki."

"Could Kuga-san please turn off her phone? We are having an important meeting right now." His frowned deepened, readied to put Natsuki's name in his black list.

"Actually, I was just checking the news," Natsuki smiled, _gently._ Seeing the girl's stunning smile, Yamato's glare softened a little, "I have found something quite interesting about Artai Corp."

"Well then, enlighten me!" Said one of Artai Corp's directors.

"_Japan daily_ had just posted a financial review of Artai Corp, an hour ago." She continued, emerald eyes were still on her phone.

"According to the review, Artai Corp is currently undervalued, because the market has yet to price the corporation's upcoming project," Natsuki paused, making sure everyone in the room were paying attention to her,

"The title of the article was: 'The return of the infamous _Metamorphosis_ project.'"

_Silence._

"Bull shit! The project has been abandoned long ago, there was no way…" Yamato Akiyama stood up with his mouth agape and his breathing quickened. Realising his odd outbursts as all eyes was now on him, confused and curious. He took a deep breath as he flopped back down to his chair, abruptly cut his own speech.

In the corner of her eyes, Natsuki could see Shizuru's eyes widened in surprise.

'_Everybody has secrets, right, Shizuru?'_


End file.
